Thursday, October 15, 2009

Kid Buntal as a young student in Manila perhaps at the Far Eastern University where Auntie Angeling said he did college. He would always tell us later that he tried being a lawyer. He wanted me to become one too.

Kid Buntal sings with his left foot and definitely cannot play the guitar. This is probably a posed shot, perhaps with one of the many girlfriends he told us. Can’t blame him, he’s ruggedly handsome.

Kid Buntal always take us to the beaches when we were growing up in Mapandan, Pangasinan. Those were the age of youthful innocence and great joy. We were poorer than rich. But we were happy. Mom wrote a caption under this photo saying it was taken at the Blue Beach. Can’t find that place now though.

Mom quit her teaching job and went to work in Singapore. Kid Buntal quit too and went back home in Almaguer. We stayed in a small hut and for the first time away from the shadows of schools and churches. That’s when the angels left.

Kid Buntal and Mom’s last photo alive and together during my eldest niece’s second birthday in Bambang. On that niece’s fourth birthday in the same house, Kid Buntal dropped a rolled 500 peso bill I gave him during a visit to Almaguer. As he stooped down to pick it, his third heart attack came swift and deadly.

Ambassador Lumumba D’Aping of Sudan who chairs the Group of 77 and China bloc said that the US wants to kill the Kyoto Protocol and replace it with a less ambitious and non-binding international treaty. But the G77 and China, the Least Developing Countries bloc, the Africa Group, and the Alliance of Small Island States insist that there is no other mandate for negotiations than the Kyoto Protocol.

Perhaps the US is wary of the Kyoto Protocol that will bind it to a historical responsibility in polluting the atmosphere which spawned global warning and caused climate change. But polluters should pay and rightly so.

With the US stalling, the European Union --- erstwhile champion of the Kyoto Protocol --- wavered and toed its big brother’s line. Big brother and small brother did not budge despite Japan’s announcement that it is increasing its green house gas emission reduction target to 25% followed by Norway’s commitment to a 40% target.

As the 2009 Bangkok Climate Change Talks talks broke down, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos count their dead from an unprecedented storm many said is a tangible example of the impact of climate change. And as if in protest, the earth shuddered perhaps in anger leaving thousands more dead in a violent swath of earthquakes and a tsunami.

The battle lines between the developed/rich countries and the developing and least developed countries were clearly drawn by the end of the talks. The elephant has squeezed itself into the room.

“Yesterday’s land grab, modern day’s sky grab”. Thus ended Venezuela’s intervention and an indictment of those who refused to change their way of lives at the expense of others.

Profile: Wat Saket and a Plate of Pansit

Wat Saket or the Temple of the Golden Mount was built during the Ayutthaya era (1351-1767) as a crematorium and cemetery. It was renovated in the late 18th century when an artificial hill was added to support the huge Chedi or stupa shown here.
The pansit photo after Wat Saket shows a plate of Pad Thai along Khao San Road. This Thai national dish is a magic potion of stir fried noodles, eggs, been sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu blended together in an oriental flavor of sour tamarind juice, hot chili, and salty fish sauce. A garnish of ground peanuts and coriander adds to it a a nutty and pungent flavor.

The first 2 photos above shows diplomats during the somber mid stock-taking of the Bangkok climate change talks, and protesters outside the UNESCAP building demand climate justice.